Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, are aircraft without a human pilot on board. Flight may be controlled by computers or by remote control of a pilot located on the ground.
Within the insurance industry, use of UAVs may aid in obtaining evaluation estimates for structures, such as roofs, that may be difficult to access. For example, a camera may be placed on the UAV so that the roof of a structure may be viewed without having to physically climb onto the roof.
The flight plan of the UAV may be based on evaluation of the geographic area around the structure, and is generally individualized for each structure. Currently within the industry, flight plans and locations of capture images are manually selected by a user.